August 13, 2002
7:56 AM   Subscribe

Introducing the new Power Mac G4. All models now feature dual-G4 processors, DDR-SRAM and a 167MHz system bus in the faster models.
But you still have to pay for .Mac.
posted by Mwongozi (20 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason:



 
Great. Can someone link to the Dell or Gateway sites now, just for balance?
posted by LionIndex at 8:09 AM on August 13, 2002


The specs are most impressive, but I'm not overly fond of the new cases. The older Quicksilver boxes were really beautiful - these are a bit cluttered. Something about those vents along the bottom . . .

Rather than mucking up a case design that's nearly 4 years old, I'd like to have seen Apple come out with something new and interesting.

Such are the woes of an elitest Mac snob.
posted by aladfar at 8:10 AM on August 13, 2002


I can't decide if the new box is ugly or not.
posted by panopticon at 8:11 AM on August 13, 2002


I love that they have a picture of it with dual 23" cinema displays. that's an approximately $12,000 setup, before tax.
posted by o2b at 8:22 AM on August 13, 2002


not that i wouldn't immediately buy it if i won the lottery.
posted by o2b at 8:22 AM on August 13, 2002


and what's with the four holes at the bottom front?
posted by o2b at 8:23 AM on August 13, 2002


I think the new box is a little on the ugly side, but at least now one can make use of the second drive bay.
posted by TskTsk at 8:27 AM on August 13, 2002


ok, this doesn't make sense to me... (differences between the fastest and the ultimate versions)

512mb ram -> 2Gb ram
SuperDrive -> SuperDrive & Combo drive
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro -> Nvidia GeForce4 Titanium
price...
3,299.00 -> 4,999.00?!?!?!
posted by GeekAnimator at 8:30 AM on August 13, 2002


Heh. Being a raging mac zealot I spotted this on the Apple site a couple of hours ago (it had yet to be picked up on Slashdot, macslash, or any of the usual suspects). I said to myself "hey, this could go on MetaFilter", then thought better of it -- "Wait a second, this is actually an almost utterly inconsequential news item save for the most devoted mac heads". I appreciate the discussion of major Apple announcements, here, but a spec bump that even Apple didn't think was worthy of a press conference?
posted by Marquis at 8:38 AM on August 13, 2002


GeekAnimator: if you want pricing that makes sense, looking anywhere on apple.com probably isn't a productive use of your time. :)
posted by louie at 8:41 AM on August 13, 2002


Geekanimator:
The additional Combo drive costs $250
The GeForce4 Titanium is $250 more than the Radeon
Quadrupling the RAM from 512 MB to 2 Gigabytes is $1200

Which comes to a total of $1700 in added costs. It works out fine mathematically, at least :)

It's just damn expensive considering there is no monitor included. Although you wouldn't need a new computer for about 4 years.

and what's with the four holes at the bottom front?

I looked and looked but could not find anything explaining them. The Quicktime VR also offered no insights. Maybe they are just part of the look, but hopefully they are some kind of frontside location for USB and firewire ports. That would be nice.
posted by insomnyuk at 8:41 AM on August 13, 2002


The holes at the bottom are for ventilation and circulation-that puppy has dual-processors working away along with some decently powered video cards. Looks like the best aesthetic design considering the engineering needs.

Sadly, though, we're still at $2499 for a 1ghz machine. As I've said before, putting Steve Jobs' famous "reality distortion field" aside, we're getting CLOBBERED in the performance race these days. Granted, this machine has a wicked fast bus-design...but for many (and justifiably so) it's a psychological issue.

I'll stick with my good ole' Pismo 400mhz PowerBook until:
1) I can get a 1ghz+ PowerBook between $2400-$2700
or
2) I can get a 1.5ghz+ PowerMac desktop for the same and I'll keep the PowerBook for the random portable needs.

Sorry Apple, but I think there are many of us waiting to upgrade until we see something more than the incremental mhz improvements we've been stuck with for the past 2+ years.

"Megahertz Myth"--sure, it works when there's a 300-500mhz gap...but an almost **2ghz gap**? Sorry homey, but that don't hold water.
posted by tgrundke at 8:42 AM on August 13, 2002


And of course, this opens up the can of worms as to whether Apple is going to stick with Motorola, which has been the topic of some debate. Given that possibility, and Jobs' leave-many-children-behind tendencies (floppy drives? OS 9? OS 10.1? iTools?), I'd be plenty nervous about shelling out $5K. If they lose Motorola and tailor OS 11 to suit the new chips, they might very well do so at the expense of compatibility with their old machines. I'm a Mac partisan and I try to keep a level head about Apple's various business decisions, but their unwillingness to extend much reassurance to the people who've been spanked w/r/t iTools or OS X gives me some pause.
posted by blueshammer at 8:45 AM on August 13, 2002


I too have some reservations about the need for this post on MeFi... but here it is.

What's really bugging me now is the Powerbook. Price/performance-wise, it seems really behind... starting at $2499 for a 667 mHz G4, as opposed to the starter desktop at 2x867 mHz for $1699? Or, as opposed to the iBook, 700 mHz G3 for $1,199? Obviously it's the next to get bumped, but it was already lagging before this latest push on the desktop models.
posted by D at 9:15 AM on August 13, 2002


those are vents along the front..? how annoying. i was hoping apple was gonna stick to their guns with this "hub of your digital world" malarkey and at least jam some input on the front. would've been handy; some of us fight with DV recorders and cameras every day.
posted by patricking at 9:22 AM on August 13, 2002


I've been considering switching to Mac. The low end I think is all I would need, as all I do is web stuff, and do my writing. But I don't want to have to shell out for Microsoft Office. Can "Mail" handle multiple accounts? Why does AppleWorks not come with the $1700 machine, but does come with the iMac?
posted by benjh at 9:35 AM on August 13, 2002


Insomnyuk, where are you getting those prices? (hopefully not apple.com.) just because they say you can upgrade from a radeon to a geforce 4 titanium for $250, doesn't mean that one actually costs $250 more than the other.

I know comparing apple's store to PriceWatch is a little unfair, but they'd put the price of 1.5 gigs of PC2700 DDR SDRAM closer to $400-$600, not that ridiculous $1200.
posted by GeekAnimator at 9:38 AM on August 13, 2002


Also, they lowered the price of the iMacs, changed the eMac to include a combo drive for 1099, and offer a superdrive eMac for 1499.

So all you Apple people, tell me, what the heck am I supposed to buy? Too many options.
posted by benjh at 9:41 AM on August 13, 2002


What's really bugging me now is the Powerbook. Price/performance-wise, it seems really behind... starting at $2499 for a 667 mHz G4, as opposed to the starter desktop at 2x867 mHz for $1699? Or, as opposed to the iBook, 700 mHz G3 for $1,199? Obviously it's the next to get bumped, but it was already lagging before this latest push on the desktop models.

don't put too much stock in the speed of the iBook. the G3 and the G4 don't compare so well, megahertz for megahertz. i should probably dig up the explanation why.
posted by moz at 9:53 AM on August 13, 2002


I'll buy an ibook this winter. I need a new laptop and I want something that's easy to use with a command line that can run perl, php, postgres and mysql native. *grin* Geek, I know.

The interesting thing to me is that I saw a picture of the new G4 on filepile probably a month ago. It was laughed at as a fake at the time.
posted by SpecialK at 10:21 AM on August 13, 2002


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